Cricket Helmet Usage and its history about how it started

History

Close-up of a cricket helmet

There are recorded cases of cricket players using slings and padded caps to protect themselves throughout the history of cricket. Patsy Hendren was one of the first to use a self-designed protective hat in the 1930s. Helmets were not commonly used until the 1970s. The first helmets were seen in World Series Cricket, Dennis Amiss being the first player to consistently wear a helmet that was a custom motorcycle helmet.

Mike Brearley was another player who wore his own design. Tony Greig believed they would make cricket more dangerous by encouraging the bowlers to bounce the batters. Graham Yallop of Australia was the first to wear a helmet in a test game on March 17, 1978, playing against the West Indies in Bridgetown. Later, Dennis Amiss of England popularized it in Test cricket. Helmets began to be widely worn afterwards.

Viv Richards was the last high-level batsman (Test Match) to ever wear a helmet throughout his career, who retired from the international game in 1991.

Modern cricket helmets

Modern cricket helmets are manufactured in accordance with the recent safety standards of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and must comply with the British standard BS7928: 2013.

The materials used in the manufacture of cricket helmets are shock-resistant materials such as ABS plastic, fibreglass, carbon fibre, titanium, steel and high-density foam, etc., inner foam material, impact-resistant outer shell, etc.

Legislation

Since 2017, the ICC has refused to pass laws requiring the wearing of helmets, leaving the decision to each tested nation to decide for itself. However, although it is not mandatory for a batsman to wear a helmet if he chooses to do so, the helmet must comply with specific safety requirements, a rule accepted by all test nations.

In first-class cricket, as of 2016, the England and Wales Cricket Council requires that all batsman, wicket keepers and field players within 8 metres of the wicket wear helmets. This is mandatory even in the face of medium and rotating bowling. New Zealand Cricket and the Board of Control for Cricket in India do not require batsman to wear helmets. 

Player Opposition

Many players refused to wear helmets, believing that they were either obstructing their vision when hitting the stick or, as in the ice hockey-like debate, believing that helmets were not manly, a view shared by many spectators. The Englishman Dennis Amiss was the first player to wear a helmet in the modern game during a World Series cricket match, for which the crowd and other players laughed at him. Australian captain Graham Yallop was booed when he wore one in a 1978 game against the West Indies (the first time a helmet was worn in a trial game), and West Indian captain Viv Richards considered that protection to be cowardly. 

Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar believed that helmets slowed down a batsman’s reflexes and refused to wear one. In more recent times, many batsman have felt that modern helmet designs have become increasingly obstructive. In particular, English Captain Alastair Cook refused for a period of time to wear a new helmet in accordance with ICC safety rules as he felt it was distracting and uncomfortable. His England teammate Jonathan Trott also declined for similar reasons, and his teammate Nick Compton (a close friend of Phillip Hughes ) felt that the new rules were too zealous. 

Manufacturers of cricket helmets

There are a number of manufacturers and brands of cricket helmets available. Some of them are Gunn & Moore, Sanspareil Greenlands and Sareen Sports Industries.

Many professional cricketers choose to wear the Masuri cricket helmet, the brand being worn by about 70% of players participating in the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Masuri are also the original inventors of the first Neck Guard, an additional piece of protective equipment that attaches to the back of the cricket helmet when they launched their StemGuard in 2015.